


A Princely Vow

by tirsynni



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 18:20:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13687206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: A hundred years ago, Prince Sidon made a vow. Now he can finally keep it.





	A Princely Vow

**Author's Note:**

> Just some sweet fluff for Valentine's Day.

When Sidon was nothing but a pup, he swore to marry Link.

He saw his sister tried to hide it behind her hand, but Sidon  _ knew _ Mipha laughed at the thought. Sidon added an addendum to his vow of marriage: that he would be his sister’s romantic rival. He nodded proudly and stood as tall as he could. He tripped over his own headfin soon after, but Mipha only smiled and checked him over for scrapes. She kissed the bruise on his arm and took him swimming with her.

Over the next hundred years, that kiss and Mipha’s smile stood out in Sidon’s mind. He remembered sharing his vow with Link, who didn’t laugh like Mipha did. True, he looked more confused than anything, but he didn’t laugh. At the time, Sidon took that as Link accepting his vow. When the Calamity arose and took both Mipha and Link from him, he held those memories close and added new vows, writing them all on scraps of enchanted parchment and sticking them on Mipha’s statue.

Sidon thought of that vow now, watching Link sit on the edge of Shatterback Point. His legs dangled, and a broken shock arrow rested by his hip: a reminder of the Lynels who haunted this spot before the Calamity’s defeat. He wore Mipha’s armor, and it shone in the sunset.  _ Link _ shone.

Shifting from foot to foot, Sidon wondered if he was being too bold. Link’s helm was beside him, and the setting sun made Link’s messy hair gleam red and gold. He looked even more beautiful than Sidon’s memories promised.

Hyrule’s Champion, Savior of the Realm, along with the Princess --  _ Queen _ \-- Zelda. That thought helped focus Sidon from past to present. He rolled his shoulders and stepped forward. “Link, my friend?” Sidon called.

Link tossed his ragged ponytail and smiled over his shoulder, utterly unsurprised. Of course. He probably knew Sidon was there long ago. If he could kill the Calamity, he could easily hear a Zora out of water.

Sidon smiled back. He could not do otherwise. He gestured beside Link. “May I sit? Only if you do not mind, of course. I would not blame you for having much on your mind.”

Link rolled his eyes at him and patted the ground. Sidon grinned at him and plopped down, hoping the sunset hid the flush in his cheeks. When he was a child, Link did much the same, and Mipha laughed when Sidon took advantage to crawl into Link’s lap. Did Link remember that? He still wasn’t sure what Link remembered and wasn’t daring enough to ask. He also admitted -- if only to himself -- that he hoped the present overwhelmed the past. He didn’t want to be a child in Link’s eyes. He wanted to be the warrior who fought beside Link, like he had against the cursed Divine Beast.

His hand brushed Link’s and he had to look out to the horizon to hide his face. He couldn’t see Hyrule Castle from here. Could Link? Sidon’s eyes were much better underwater.

“Father sent craftsmen to Hyrule Castle to help rebuild,” Sidon said, and he grimaced at how awkward the words sounded to him. He cleared his throat and looked at the red and violet streaks across the sky. “Ledo took some of the luminous stones you gave him, and there is already talk of Hyrule Castle being more beautiful than ever. Queen Zelda is talking about having something for each of the Champions at the castle in memorial.”

Sidon glanced at Link, who only smiled fondly into the distance. Sidon wanted to ask him if the queen planned something to celebrate Link, too, but he never obtained his sister’s gift for words. He could cheer on his people and lead a charge, but Mipha had always been the healer, in action and in speech. It seemed like too many of Sidon’s desired questions could hurt when he wanted nothing of the sort.

He remembered Link’s face when he saw Mipha’s statue and  _ remembered _ . He didn’t want to give Link further grief. He wanted Link to keep smiling, wanted to be the one to make Link smile.

Rubbing the back of his head, Sidon studied the hair tumbling around Link’s face. Link styled his hair that way for as long as he could remember, and when he first saw him, Sidon thought Link was just an odd looking Zora. In his defense, Link was the first Hylian he ever saw. Only later did he wonder if Link did it on purpose, but by then he couldn’t ask either Link or Mipha.

He couldn’t ask now, either.

It felt like he couldn’t ask anything. How disgraceful.

Sidon cleared his throat and looked out over the horizon, over the beauty that was his domain. He wanted…

Link leaned over and bumped his his shoulder again Sidon’s arm. When Sidon looked down at him, Link raised an eyebrow at him. Sidon coughed. Of course someone as clever as Link would catch on that something was wrong...well, not  _ wrong _ , per se.

Sidon sighed. If he had nothing else of Mipha’s, he wished for his sister’s gift of speech. “I am grateful -- we are  _ all _ grateful -- and my friend, you are  _ always _ welcome in our Domain, never think otherwise --”

Another bump. Sidon coughed. To his relief, Link didn’t look insulted, just amused. The sun was setting and even up here, above the mountains and trees, it was growing dark. Still, Sidon knew that if it was brighter, he would be able to see a small scar along Link’s jaw and another by his right eyebrow. He knew so much about Link and it still felt like he knew nothing.

“We --  _ I _ \-- am always grateful for when you visit, but I hope we aren’t distracting you from Queen Zelda.” Now Sidon had to look away again. One of the last things Mipha told him before she left was that  _ of course _ she would be back. Wasn’t she Sidon’s romantic rival, after all?

A hundred years later and the memory still hurt.

Somehow, this hurt worse. “Not that I am saying I want you to go back to the castle,” Sidon continued quickly, looking away again. He dug his claws into the ground beside him and felt the scrape of rocks. “You could stay here as long as you pleased! You would be a  _ most _ welcome guest and my father has already --”

Link’s hand felt rough on the back of Sidon’s. Sidon’s voice choked off. When Link leaned over and rested his head on Sidon’s arm, he thought he felt his heart stop. After a moment, Link spoke, and as always, his voice sounded rough, lilted with the barest Zora accent. “It’s okay, Sidon. I get it.”

It took several tries for Sidon to unwrap his tongue to speak. “Oh?”

Sidon felt Link’s face shift against his arm when he smiled. “Zelda says she’s good for now, and she told me to take a vacation. The king said I could rest here for a little bit.”

“...oh?” Sidon grimaced. He sounded like a pup just about to hit his growth spurt.

“Yeah.” Link tilted his head and smiled at Sidon. A lock of hair fell between his eyes. Feeling greatly daring, Sidon took his free hand and brushed it away, taking care not to smear any dirt on Link’s face. Link’s smile grew. “She also told me to tell you that she’s not a rival, so you can calm down.”

Slowly, Sidon’s headfin began to wag behind him. Sidon swallowed again, feeling like he had just tried to gulp down a fish whole. “I...see,” he said, and wasn’t sure he actually did but  _ hoped _ \--

Link patted his arm. “Watch the sunset with me, Sidon,” he said, and then he fell quiet again.

Feeling hot and giddy, Sidon carefully leaned against Link. He ducked his head, just enough for his headfin to dangle and touch Link’s hair. He felt bold, ridiculously so, but hadn’t he told his people again and again that only the daring won? Hadn’t Link and Mipha taught him to be brave? “Perhaps we could go swimming after this. I know a lovely lake close to here…”

Link nodded against his arm, and Sidon’s heart soared. He started making plans about discussing courting with both his father and Queen Zelda and how would Link feel about the usual gift of fine fish? Only the best for Link, of course.

Caught in his daydreaming and the weight of Link against him, Sidon didn’t even notice when the sun set. He made a mental note to write down another vow to place on Mipha’s statue:

To not just marry Link but to keep him smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to check me out on [tumblr](http://tirsynni.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
